


Good Game

by secretlovesongs



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, M/M, Online Friendship, cute malec, gamer!alec, gamer!magnus, just cute people bein cute!!!!, malec college au, pretty much zero sad stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-02-21 23:07:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13153944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretlovesongs/pseuds/secretlovesongs
Summary: When AlexanderWayland and MagnificentBane meet on an online multiplayer, neither of them expect Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane to be the ones behind these usernames, unknowingly taking a liking towards each other both online and offline.ORThe malec gamers / college au no one asked for.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> In dedication to my irl buddies who will probably find this fic one day and read it without my knowing.
> 
> PSA: I know very little about college or MMORPGs, so if this is all sounds ridiculously fake, you know why.

“Today’s the day, today’s the day!! Rise and shine you sleepyheads!!” Jace is banging — are those _saucepans_? Where did he get those from? — from his top bunk and yelling at the top of his lungs. Izzy groans, trying to wrestle the pans from Jace while still half asleep and Alec buries his head between two pillows in the bottom bunk, having resigned to waking up in the worst ways Jace can imagine over a year ago.Izzy, on the other hand, hasn’t, even though they all moved into university the same year.

Yeah, his little sister’s a genius.

“Jace, stop with the pans — Jesus Christ — what do you mean today’s the day?” The horrified look of betrayal Alec gets from Jace tells him two things: one, that this is definitely not an important thing, and two, that it’s not worth waking up early for.

“March 30! The new conquest on The Mortal Instruments is up! We have to check it before we go to class,” Jace explains as he scales down the ladder, pounces onto his laptop and pushes it open. Alec sighs to himself but begins to get up anyway, curious himself to find out what the next conquest the online game was going to hand them. Jace had gotten all three of them addicted to the game when they were in high school, forcing them to all have Shadowhunters for characters (“so that we can be a team, Alec”), and while Alec would’ve very much liked to have sung his swan song and left the game before he entered university, but he, Jace and Izzy had nabbed a ranking of one, three and recently five (she’d been sixth for ages) on the leadership board by the time he’d received his high school diploma. Call him vain or egotistical, but he wasn’t about to let his newfound fame on a multiplayer roleplay game go after he’d gotten the number one spot. So here they are, well into their second year of university, still as attached to the game as ever.

In fact, before Jace can even try to take Alec out, he has one more competitor to defeat first. MagnificentBane (ironically also the bane of Jace’s existence). The warlock-species character is in second place at the moment, mere dozens of points away from beating Alec himself. Alec has never actually talked to the guy or his team (who also sit somewhere on the leaderboard), but he’s heard things, and these things are making him think he may lose his precious number one spot if this conquest isn’t completed to perfection. He taps impatiently against his laptop, waiting for the game to load.

“You guys just let me know what it is, what I can do. I’m going back to sleep.” Seconds later, Izzy’s snores fill the room as Alec and Jace finally pull up the conquest.

“No… no way.” Jace’s eyes widen almost comically as he reads, and he looks ready to bang his head on the wooden table his laptop is sitting on. “We have to make alliances with other species?? Half the leaderboard is filled with shadowhunters!! Hell, three-quarters of the characters here are shadowhunters, it’s like everyone wishes they were half-angel or something.”

“And you don’t?” Alec raises a single, inquisitive eyebrow that has Jace shrugging noncommittally, looking away a little.

Truth is, when Alec read the conquest, he knew exactly which team he wants to make an alliance with. After all, the leader of team’s name sits prettily in second place after having stormed through the leaderboard in a matter of weeks. It’s just… he doesn’t know MagnificentBane. Neither does he know RangerBane and CatarinaBane. other than the fact that his team is the only one who stands a chance at competing with Team Bane, Alec doesn’t se any leverage over gaining their trust for an alliance. When he looks over at Jace again, he realises his cursor hovering over MagnificentBane on the leadership board. Jace slams his own laptop shut.

“MagnificentBane? The guy that I’ve been trying to beat out for three months now? The guy that just swept in one day and took my number two spot from me?? He’s an asshat, no way Alec.”

Alec’s expression is deadpan. “Is that not the point of the game?”

Jace narrows his eyes, mumbling something about getting breakfast before his morning lecture before he grabs his bag and valuables, hurrying out of the dorm. Alec leans back on his study chair, a small smirk lingering on his lips. Like it or not, Team Bane is their best chance at winning this conquest. Sooner or later, the boy’s gonna have to suck it up.

* * *

When Alec comes back from a terribly boring finance class, he can’t help but roll his eyes at Jace, who’s currently on The Mortal Instruments, killing off Shax demons with an unnecessary vigour. Alec almost opens his mouth to say something about Jace damaging his laptop but he figures the last thing Jace needs is to feel even worse if he doesn’t defeat the demons, so he holds back. Truth is, Alec had been thinking about it throughout his afternoon lecture, his mind drifting from topic to topic until it landed on The Mortal Instruments.

“Think of it this way,” Alec offers when Jace has successfully gained his XP, dragging a stool over so he can sit next to his brother, “if we join forces with Team Bane, then there’s no way that MagnificentBane can outperform for this conquest. At the very least, he can’t widen the gap by too much… and hopefully won’t overtake both of us either. Which is a possibility, if we let them form an alliance with someone else. Like Team Santiago, for instance.” Alec nods at the name currently seventh place on the board, RSantiago. Though there was a little drama surrounding the vampire-shadowhunter team with Camilleeee-who-knows-how-many-‘e’s being kicked off the team and replaced by a shadowhunter character, ClarissaFairchild, awhile ago, and they’re a bit of a mishmash team, Alec’s pretty sure they’re still a solid team if anything on the leaderboard is to go by. But before Alec can continue his train of thoughts, Jace changes the subject.

“So, I heard your darling Magnus Bane was at your morning lecture today? Did you finally manage to do anything other than gawk at him from a distance?” Alec splutters for just a second, fully intending to deny that Magnus is ‘his darling’. Magnus is not ‘his’ in any way, shape, or form, that man is a prince all on his own and he knows it. But he chooses a different distraction instead.

“How did you know he was in my module?” Alec asks with a lightly accusing tone, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

“Firstly, everyone knows that both of you take Computer Science as a minor, so it’s a good enough educated guess. Although how that works with a fashion major is honestly quite beyond me. Secondly, Snapchat, brother. Snapchat. The both of you almost sent half the class of girls and a quarter of the guys fainting in their seats; apparently they couldn’t handle having both _beauties_ of the school in one lecture theatre.” Alec knows that Jace is only teasing; knows that there’s a blush forming on his cheeks already, and really, it’s these times that Alec wonders how he ever was infatuated with Jace and knows exactly why all at the same time. It’s what happens when you have a lack of experience, Alec figures, you think you have a crush on someone just because they make you blush and your heart skips a beat when you see them. Not as simple as that, Alec found out a few years later, when he first set his eyes on Magnus Bane. Nope, definitely not.

“Two beauties? I’m pretty sure I only saw one. In fact… he sat pretty much two seats away from me.” It’s a feeble attempt at… trying to do whatever he’s trying to do, but the memory of students whispering and gasping as Magnus asked him if the seat next to him was available is enough for that goofy smile he had for an hour to threaten to break his nonchalant expression. Jace’s smile grows, and he wastes no time pouncing on that information.

“Izzy’s gonna flip when she finds out! Did he say something to you? Please tell me you opened that useless mouth of yours and got at least a phone number. I can’t stand you shooting ‘come hither’ eyes at the boy from two tables away during lunch much long- hey!!” Jace rubs at his rib where Alec elbowed him and narrows his eyes. Alec sighs dramatically, and supposes that he’d indulge Jace a little just this time. After all, he does kind of want to talk about it. Sort of. 

“There weren’t many empty seats in the hall today, it just so happened that I had an empty seat diagonally in front of me when he came in. That’s all there is to it. Of course I opened my mouth, I mean, it wasn’t the most exciting lecture, I’m sure I yawned once or twice,” Alec anticipates Jace’s dramatic groan before it even comes, and quickly continues before he can comment. “Getting his number would’ve been creepy, Jace, I mean, even I have seen girls fishing for his attention and number before — I can’t imagine how often he gets that sort of thing.”

“Who gets what sort of thing? What am I missing?” Izzy flashes a mischievous smile as she locks the door and toes off her heels, perching herself on the table between Alec and Jace. “Hello?”

“Just this guy—”

“Magnus Bane sat, like, right next to Alec during computer science today!” Jace cheers, slamming his hand onto Alec’s mouth to shut him up. Izzy’s eyes widen and she starts to squeal before she slaps Jace’s hand off Alec’s mouth. Alec considers thanking her, but he knows that some ridiculous interrogation is coming next, so he takes it back in his mind and huffs, surrendering to whatever weird questions he knows are going to be fired at him.

“What did he say to you? Finally confessed his undying love for you? Did you exchange numbers? When’s the first da—”

“Woah woah woah! Okay, nothing much, what the heck no, no, and no way, I don’t even know if he knows I’m gay,” Alec counts his answers on his fingers pointedly, rolling his eyes before he continues. “He sat two seats away from me in a lecture. With hundreds of other people. Nothing happened,” he insists, reaching for his laptop in an effort to change the subject. “Anyway, let’s talk about the new conquest instead, huh? What do you guys think of the whole alliance thing?”

Thankfully, that distracts Jace almost immediately. “This is ridiculous. Literally the only team that we know of that stands a chance with us is Team Bane. How am I supposed to be civil with the guy who stole the spot I worked for years for in _weeks_? Can’t we go ask Team Santiago instead?” Alec shoots Izzy an exasperated look while Jace sulks, and she pats his shoulder with a laugh, as if to tell him she’s got this.

“Wait, let me get this straight. You want to, instead of sucking it up and going to Team Bane, ask Team Santiago to form an alliance with us, which, by the way, is already a team of more than one species and is likely to want to do the conquest themselves, and risk RangerBane kicking you into fourth place? Don’t be ridiculous, _hermano_ , it’s a terrible idea and you know it. If you don’t want to approach them, that’s fine, Alec and I have more than enough charm and skill to rope them over anyway.”

It takes a good half an hour of cold war silence. Izzy attempts to do yoga while reading a book and Alec’s already a quarter way through his course notes when Jace sighs dramatically. Alec smiles knowingly at Izzy as she gracefully stands up from her yoga pose, both book and course notes forgotten on the yoga mat and mattress. They move in an almost feline way, a little too quietly for comfort. The second they’re settled onto their laptops, though, they’re already excitedly logging into The Mortal Instruments. Izzy lets out a happy squeal.

“I’ve been waiting for ages for an excuse to talk to MagnificentBane! Don’t you just find him so… majestic? I mean…” the more Izzy talks, the more comical Jace death glare becomes. Alec bites his lip to stop himself from laughing too obviously.

“Gee, Izzy, I didn’t know you had a crush on this Magnificent guy. You don’t even know wha he looks li—”

“Yeah! What if he’s a creepy forty year old divorcee with too much time on his hands, huh? What if he’s actually a serial killer that hacks into your computer through your account and digs up all your information?”

The ‘what the fuck’ look Jace gets from both his siblings shuts him up well enough.

“Yeah, well, firstly, I don’t have a crush on him, I just think he’s a great player, and secondly, clearly he’s a got a life. None of his team are online right now,” Izzy points out, having already searched for their status. Alec shrugs, excusing himself.

“Any of you guys want drinks? Food?”

“Soda please!”

“Alcohol. I’m gonna needs loads of it to get through this.”

Alec rolls his eyes, but obliges anyway.

* * *

They loiter around the game for a while more, completing a few small missions to pass time. Alec attempts to multitask and read his notes while waiting, but nothing actually goes into his head and ten minutes later, he finds himself still on the same page. He sighs in defeat and closes his notes after bookmarking the page.

“They’re online! Let’s go!!” Alec is immediately tapping on his laptop to get it to start up again, opening the tab that the game is on and typing MagnificentBane on the search bar. He clicks on ‘track’, and when his character is transported to wherever MagnificentBane is, he realises that he’s the last to reach. He turns his head towards the top bunk, amusement painting his features, but Jace doesn’t notice, and Alec doesn’t expect an answer. The bottom right of his screen blinks with a notification. A jolt of nervousness stiffens his fingers, and he stretches them before he opens the chat bubble.

 

 **MagnificentBane:** I’m going to give you guys the benefit of the doubt and presume that you aren’t here to try and have me somehow killed

 **IsabelleWayland:** nope. or at least, we’ll try to make sure jonathan over here doesn’t pull anything on you

 **JonathanWay:** HEY

 **AlexanderWayland:** Ignore them. Have you read about the conquest?

 **MB:** Talking to me?

 **AW:** yes.

 **MB:** Yes, in fact, I have. I’m beginning to see why you’ve all approached me…

 **AW:** yup. we wanna know if your team would be interested in forming an alliance with ours. just for this conquest, of course.

 **MB:** Well, the number one player on the game is asking me to form an alliance, how can I say no?

 

“Is the guy _flirting_ with you??” Jace yells over the railing of his bunk. Alec shrugs and continues typing, but Izzy’s standing up and climbing into Jace’s bunk.

“It’s the feeling of watching a shadowhunter with a bow and arrows, taking out demons with perfect precision… can’t blame the guy, am I right?”

 

 **MB:** Hold on a sec…

 **AW:** what’s wrong?

 **MB:** Nothing’s wrong, per se. But we do have to know how chummy our teams could be. The most skilful people on the game wouldn’t be able to finish the conquest in time if they spent the entire time fighting.

 **AW:** good point. when will the rest of your team be online?

 **MB:** Not sure. Tell you what: tomorrow, 6pm, all six of us meet at Pandemonium club. There’s bound to be a demon or two we can hunt down and fight there. If it all works out, we’ll join forces with you.

 **AW:** sounds like a plan. tomorrow, 6pm it is. 

 **MB:** Hold on, you are in EST right?

 **AW:** yup. all 3 of us are

 **MB:** Perfect.

 

“Alright. MagnificentBane wants to make sure we can all _get along_ ,” Alec looks pointedly at Jace, squeezing his way into the top bunk as well until the three of them are lying next to each other in awkward positions, “so he’s proposed a meet up tomorrow evening to do a mission or something — to see if an alliance is a good idea.”

“Tomorrow evening?” Izzy muses, “isn’t that Tuesday night?” The bed moves up and down and creaks slightly as they turn around and shift themselves to face each other, making Alec think that maybe three full grown adults on the top of an old bed bunk isn’t the best idea in the world. At the mention of Tuesday night, though, they grin at each other excitedly. If Tuesday Night, the evening where all three of them huddle around their laptops eating pizza and game until the sun comes up, is the one tradition that hasn’t changed since they first moved into the dorms, then Alec is secretly grateful.

“PIZZA!!” Jace and Izzy yell at the same time and Alec laughs, gripping the railing tightly so he doesn’t tumble 6 feet off the bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> malec get married (sort of)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, everyone!!

Magnus hangs off the side of his bed, opening a bag of pretzel sticks as Cat and Ragnor contemplate the offer.

“I mean, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot,” Ragnor shrugs, but Magnus sees the hesitation, knows that every possible way that this could go wrong has already gone through that cabbage’s brain. “I don’t wanna stand anyone up either, so I vote that we go demon-hunting with them. Plus, I mean… IsabelleWayland is right ahead of me in the leaderboard as of right now,” he raises his eyebrows, “so…”

Magnus presses his lips into a thin line. “Yeah, speaking of that. JonathanWay seems to still be a little peeved by the way I took his number two spot all those months ago. Boy, can the man hold a grudge,” he shudders dramatically. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thinks he shouldn’t be one to talk. “Alexander, on the other ha—” Magnus barely gets a handful of words out before a cushion bounces off his face and onto the floor. “Aw, c’mon, cherub, he  _is_  the number one player on The Mortal Instruments… and surely not worth dirtying your white pillows with my eyeshadow. Is it a bad thing that I don’t really want to overtake him?”

“The Institute just gave all warlocks that god forsaken task two weeks ago and now you’re telling me you don’t want to overtake Arrow Boy?” Cat only has to flick her hand at Magnus for him to hear the ‘forget it’ she’s implying. He puts his chin in his hands, leaning a little further over the bunk.

“That’s the game itself, Catarina. Has nothing to do with the actual person sitting behind the computer, shooting arrows with perfect precision...”

Ragnor and Cat howl with laughter, throwing their heads back and laughing like little kids.  _Crap, I walked into that, didn’t I?_  “Are you hearing yourself? Hand the actual Alexander Wayland a bow and arrow and then we’ll talk. It’s  _all_  just a game, Magnus.”

“There’s a joke somewhere here about arrows and dicks, though I can’t quite place my finger on it just yet.”

“You mean that Magnus wants Alexander to put his arrow in his quiver, don’t you?”

“Geez, Cat, since when did you get so good at reading my mind?”

“I didn’t get better at reading your mind — I got better at making dick jokes. To none of your doing, of course.” Ragnor widens his eyes and looks away, feigning innocence. “Magnus, stop taking your hopeless crush on Arrow Boy out on the pretzel sticks; you’re gonna choke on them. C’mon, stop being silly and let’s game — we’ve still got an hour or so before Team Wayland meets us; it’s more than enough time for a small mission or two.”

“Firstly, it’s not a crush if I’ve never met him, and secondly, he’s still a really good gamer.” He’s shooting for the ‘slightly impressed, but head still definitely connected to the shoulders’ tone, but the half exasperated, half knowing smiles on Cat and Ragnor tell him that he may have missed the mark by just a little. Comfortable silence fills the dorm and all three of them focus on using their characters’ magical abilities to vaporise a few demons.

“Goddamn it!” Ragnor groans fifteen minutes later, slamming his mouse against the study desk in frustration. Somehow, while on the second location of looking for The Book of The White, a demon attacked from behind. Magnus spares a glance at his roommate, who visibly deflates as he watches his horned character lay motionless on the floor of the room. Cat’s blasted the demon back to hell before Magnus even turns back to his laptop, and he grins, clicking on the glowing white book on the shelf. Immediately, golden sparkles are surrounding all three characters and Ranger, quite comically, rises from the dead.

“Well, that was fun,” Magnus quips. He gets both a smile and a scowl in response. There’s still about seven minutes to six, so Magnus leans back and studies Ragnor. “For someone who sits back and laughs when your teammates get killed during missions, you are terribly anal about dying yourself.”

“I am not  _anal_. I have  _standards_.”

“No you don’t.”

“Don’t make us remind you of your last girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend? Fuck buddy, more like.”

“When’s the last time Mr. Grump over here got himself a  _real_  girlfriend anyway?”

“Oh don’t be jealous, Catarina—”

“Okay okay  _okay_  I get it!!” Ragnor huffs, turning positively red from the mention of his love life (or lack thereof).

When they portal to Pandemonium sharply at six, three shadowhunters are already standing at the entrance, idly waiting. Magnus can see the snooze symbol over their usernames, so he starts the conversation.

 

 **MB:**  Alexander, Isabelle, Jonathan, meet my team.

 

A few seconds later, the snooze symbols disappear.

 

 **IW:**  Hey guys! Nice to meet you. Ready to go?

 **CatarinaBane:**  For sure! Where are we going?

 **JW:**  into pandemonium, the back room always has a bunch of demons

 **RangerBane:**  wait let me make sure i got you guys right. isabelle is the one i’ve gotta beat if i want to get to top five, jonathan is the one that’s still salty about bane beating him like 3 months ago and alexander is arrow boy. right?

 

Magnus chokes on his pretzels.

 

 **MB:**  Waylands, excuse him. Ranger, do you just go around calling strangers ‘salty’ and ‘arrow boy’?

 **RB:**  yes

 **AW:**  it’s fine, we all had a good laugh. let’s head in?

 

Cat straightens herself up, and Ragnor narrows his eyes. “If I die in front of these hooligans, I’ll never be able to face them ever again.”

“Oh don’t be so dramatic, cabbage.”

It’s a pretty standard raid, Magnus thinks as he assesses the scene. Demons, more demons, and wait… are those Circle Members?

 

 **MB:**  circle members???

 **JW:**  scared, bane?

 **AW:** focus guys

 

The characters finish loading and Alexander makes the first move, a glowing arrow pulverising a demon into golden sparks. A whip flies out of nowhere — Isabelle — and takes down two demons. There’re still countless ones, though, and Magnus hovers over the keys that would allow deathly blows to shoot right out of his fingers, continuing to watch out for unexpected attacks.

“Jesus, what the hell is Jonathan doing?” Cat blasts a few demons away and spares just a split second to roll her eyes. Magnus make a move to take down the rest of the demons that have crowded around Jonathan, because for some reason, the goon decided to pull out a seraph and fight short distance when there’s still a dozen demons left to kill. Once Jonathan has things back under control and is killing off the rouge demons that the magic didn’t reach, Magnus brings his character to the corner of the room.

“I don’t remember Circle Members being allowed into Pandemonium. You think if I choke them we’ll get bonus stuff?”

“Worth a shot,” Ragnor replies distractedly, definitely hell bent on not getting killed this time around. Magnus switches to a choking spell, not enough to kill, but enough to evoke a reaction if there would be one. A text bubble blinks.

 

_No worries, warlock. It’s all ancient history._

 

“Ancient history?” Magnus snorts out a laugh, entertained. “Bye.” A few more choking spells and the Circle Members drop dead, then evaporate into thin air. He turns away to grab his water bottle, but when he turns back to his laptop, one last Circle Member seems to appear out of thin air, seraph blade in hand, and Magnus can barely even place his hands back on the keyboard before the member makes his attack. He slams on his keys — no luck. Wrong key.

_I’m dead._

A last glowing arrow flies from heaven knows where and buries itself in the attacker’s knee. Having regained control over his character, Magnus takes the opportunity and sends a ball of magic hurtling at the man and he, too, drops dead. The notification that they won the battle makes all of them lean back in their chairs with a sigh of relief.

 

 **AW:**  well done, guys

 **MB:**  Eh, more like medium rare.

 **RB:**  that is perhaps the worst joke i’ve heard from you, and trust me, i’ve heard some really bad ones

 **CB:**  *war flashbacks to ‘the worst thing you can do is over-beat your meat’*

 **MB:**  I hate you guys.

 **IW:**  Speaking of steak, i’m hungry. Y’all settle the logistics, I’m getting food

 **MB:**  Remember to get me a Hawaiian pizza

 **IW:**  HAWAIIAN?? GROSS M8

 **JW:**  pineapple on pizza is your first meal when you first enter hell

 **AW:**  go get your food, isabelle. anyway…

 

“What’s the verdict?” Magnus finishes Alexander’s sentence out loud.

“They’ve all got terrible taste in pizza.”

Cat snorts. “I thought it went pretty smoothly. The Waylands are good, that’s for sure,” she pauses for a second, revising her answer. “I mean, most of the time, when they’re not being reckless idiots. I wouldn’t mind forming an alliance with them. However… it’s not unheard of for alliances to form, just for them to break halfway through a conquest because one group found someone better or fights break out. We need something more concrete than just a verbal agreement, something that would mess the other team up if they were to break the alliance.”

“Something like… a Shadowhunter bounded by marriage…? I've heard of that one happening a few times...” Ragnor raises his eyebrows, breaks into a devilish grin and begins typing.

Magnus’s head meets the desk with a dull thud.  _If only those freezing spells could work in real life._

 

 **RB:**  so listen. we’re ok with forming an alliance with you, but we want something more concrete than just verbal agreement. something that will keep the group together until we finish the conquest.

 **JW:**  and what do you propose?

 **RB:**  funny you would use the word ‘propose’, because that’s exactly what i was thinking of. i think alexander and bane should get married. it makes sense — with them being the leaders of our teams and all

 **RB:**  and i mean it’s kinda still a game in the end, who really cares if y’all divorce once the conquest is done

_AlexanderWayland is typing…_

 

“You’re kidding, right?”

Ragnor shakes his head. “Not in the slightest. For one, Alexander seems the most likely to stick to his word and not flake halfway. For another,” he nods at Alexander’s response, “I just got you married to your online crush. You’re welcome.”

 

 **AW:**  good point. let’s do that then.

 **MB:**  Alexander, dear, we really don’t need to resort to such permanent ways of keeping an alliance — I really don’t want any of you guys to be uncomfy about it.

 **AW:**  I’m fine with it, honestly

 **AW:**  Unless you’re not keen…?

 **MB:**  no no not at all

 **MB:**  i’m keen, i mean

 

Magnus wants to bury himself in a ditch and be left to die for a couple of minutes. Since when did even  _punctuation_  look desperate?

“Ragnor, darling,” Magnus turns one of his rings around his finger, eyeing it with extra interest and then very slowly, stands up from his seat. Like prey running from its predator, Ragnor takes off, trying to find refuge in the tiny college dorm.

 

 **AW:**  great, well, i’ll sign the marriage papers and fire message it to you tomorrow then

 **CB:**  alexander, bane is unfortunately busy trying to strangle ranger at the moment, but given what i know of him, he’s not going to let you get away with just signing papers.

 **CB:**  thursday, 7pm. the chapel. be there.

 

* * *

 

“Whatcha up to? The digital fashion thing again?”

Peace. All Magnus wants is peace. An hour ago, Ragnor had shoved his laptop into his hands together with some half-assed excuse of ‘my groupmates can’t concentrate with a disco ball in the room’, and kicked him out of his own dorm. The fifteen minutes following that were spent looking around the school campus for somewhere to work on his project that wasn’t the library (he’s heard stories, okay?), the next five spent accepting the fact that the library was going to be his best shot and the ten after that was spent walking to the library. Just like that, one quiet, perfect hour to spend coding

Magnus wants to ignore the voice behind him, considers it even, in fact, but the social contract is there for a reason, so he nods, squinting at lines and lines of code and digital sketches.

“Hmm, surely I thought you’d be frantically planning your wedding by now.”

“If you thought that I’d be doing that and I was indeed doing that, I’d be predictable, and we all know that’s the last thing I am, so.”

It takes a beat of silence for his mind to catch up.

Raphael is currently speaking to him. Raphael, as in, RSantiago. As in, the person Magnus had agreed to group up with on the next conquest from The Mortal Instruments, and yet, the person he’d conveniently forgotten about when AlexanderWayland approached him just three days ago.

His head to snaps up and he face has an uncanny resemblance to one of a deer caught in headlights, he knows it. “How did you find out?”

Raphael’s accusing glare intensifies.

“You know, you do have pretty loyal roommates,  _mi amigo_ , but you should know better than anyone that a few empty threats can go a long way.”

“Should I even be asking what you threatened to do?”

“Said I’d challenge them to a battle and knock three levels off their characters. Each.”

Magnus tuts, shaking his head. “Why would they fall for something as stupid as that? That’s six battles on your part, and Ragnor is ahead of you on the leaderboard. Bunch of cowards, but I love them still.”

“I know you do.” A nice moment was there, Magnus swears, but it's over so quickly that he wonders whether his mind is playing tricks on him, as does happen often with Raphael. “But back to the topic of your terrible betrayal — since you abandoned me for your online crush—“ Magnus opens his mouth to argue, but Raphael raises an eyebrow and any argument is reluctantly bitten back. “—as I was saying. Since you’ve been fawning over this Alexander guy ever since you started playing TMI, I shall let it slide.”

Magnus narrows his eyes. “But…?”

“But, get ready to have your ass beat, Bane.”

“No way in hell. You have Clary! She’s a great art student and a terrible gamer. For Pete’s sake, she’s not even on the leaderboard!”

“Is Cat really on the leaderboard if she’s in the bottom ten?”

“Hm, let me think… YES!”

A small titter from Raphael follows. Magnus stares. Raphael stares back.

Thankfully, the staring contest doesn’t last long. Raphael wanders off on his own, heading for the reference books section. Seconds later, he’s lost between stacks and stack of books too thick for any college student’s good. Ah, sweet sweet silence.

Magnus focuses back on his code again. With the right programming and skill, the lines drawn by the computer with just a few commands are beginning to flow naturally; the sketches created by his programme is starting to resemble the stacks and stacks of ones he has stuffed under his bed and in his shelves, but the colouring and shading still have a long way to go. Excitement fills him suddenly and he smiles to himself — finally, he’s going to be able to get to colouring. It’s always been his favourite part of design. That’s another bunch of programming to do, though, and Magnus doesn’t feel completely up to it today, so he shuts his laptop and turns to his homework instead. He’ll start on part three of his project another day.

Raphael pulls out the chair opposite the one Magnus is sitting on, and three thick, forensic books land on the table with a loud ‘bang’. Magnus blinks up at him expectantly.

“So… have you picked out the wedding ring yet?”

Magnus reaches for his laptop, a playful glint in his eye. “I thought you’d never ask.”

 

* * *

 

To absolutely no one’s surprise but Magnus’s, it’s 6:57 when he checks the time again. He’s out of the library in seconds, heart beating out of his chest as he he makes a run for it back to his dorm. Honestly, this is all Ragnor’s fault. His laptop battery is at two percent, he’s going to be late for the wedding, and Alexander’s going to think he’s a flakey douche. With the door of his dorm in sight, he runs just a little faster, pushing past a few students who are looking at him bewilderedly either because they’ve never seen him run before, or they’ve never seen him with smudged eyeliner before. Magnus kind of hopes they’re not noticing the latter right now. When he finally bursts through the door, his eyes immediately search for the hanging clock in the room, praying it’s not seven just yet.

_6:59._

Just in time.

“I need… just a minute,” Magnus mumbles, all but collapsing onto the shared study desk. He can practically feel the slightly judgemental, mostly resigned glances he’s getting off the top of his messy quiff… like an antenna, almost.

“Why didn’t you just stay wherever you were? You had your laptop with you.”

Magnus just pushes said laptop an inch towards the charger as a response, pretending to deflate even more from that small movement. Somewhere to his right, he hears Cat huff to herself, and then the laptop slides away from under his fingers. For the next few seconds, the only sound that fills the room is Magnus’s panting—a rarity in the dorm.

“It’s 7:01.”

“Fuck. Right. Where did my laptop go?”

 

Whatever adrenaline that had gotten Magnus from the library to his dorm in two minutes starts itself up again the second the chapel loads on his computer screen. Alexander seems to be pacing, and Isabelle is doing the same, albeit a lot more dramatically. He lets out a laugh. “Is Isabelle mocking Alexander?”

Another character appears, and then Ragnor is right behind Isabelle, throwing himself around like a fool as he staggers forward and backwards. Magnus wants to log out.

“I haven’t seen a walk like that since Jurassic Park.”

“And I haven’t heard that joke since 2001.”

 

 **JW:**  i knew i liked ranger for a reason

 **AW:**  you’re all bullies

 **IW:**  aw c’mon big brother it’s just way too easy to make fun of you. now, are we getting married or not?

 **MB:**  why were you guys pacing left and right anyway?

 **IW:**  alexander’s way of dealing with nervousness

 **IW:**  pace around and snap at people

 **MB:**  Poor thing. Unless i’m talking to a bunch of 16 year olds, there are much more exciting ways of dealing with nervousness.

 **IW:**  yeah yeah tell that to alexander. he’s 21 but with the way he reacts to anything M18 you’d really think he’s 16

 **AW:**  if you don’t want the rest of the dorm to see me kick your ass in the corridor i suggest you shut up

 **IW:**  you wouldn’t.

 **AW:**  I would.

 **CB:**  Do it. I once dragged Ranger and his ex out of our dorm with both of them half naked and to this day, I don’t regret it

 **MB:**  I still have the video clip

 **RB:**  you were right alexander, they’re all bullies

 

Magnus clamps down on his lip, trying to hold back his laughter, but Ragnor is all but glowering at him and Cat, so he types again.

 

 **MB:**  Anyway, off to the chapel!

 

“You know,” Magnus muses when the signing of the marriage certificate is taking ages, “this really doesn’t have the grandiosity of a real wedding in the slightest. Up your game, TMI.”

“Does anyone in TMI ever get married for love? Apparently nothing screams romance louder than a group conquest.”

“Or a couple PK.”

“Or loading bars!”

A second later, Magnus sits up a little straighter. “No. This won’t do. I’m getting married to the top player here; surely he deserves more than clicking the ‘yes’ box five times and watching a loading bar for minutes. I can’t just toss the ring at him and have it over and done with, can I?”

“Yes, you can.” Magnus raises an eyebrow at Cat. “But you won’t.”

_Hmm._

 

_MagnificentBane started a private conversation!_

**MB:**  Alexander, would you like to take a walk with me? Along Brooklyn Bridge, maybe?

 **AW:** I’d love to.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malec abuse the instant chat function on TMI, and Izzy has an epiphany.

****_Would you like to take a walk with me?_

Alec had laughed to himself at that. A question asked so genuinely, and yet, here he is, still in his room, his two siblings asleep in the bunks above. Rarely did he pay attention to the graphics or the way each character’s outfit flowed, but now that he’s looking out at the night sky, no demons to attack and no circle members to fight, he sits back and appreciates the detail — from the wooden planks the characters walk on to the lights hanging above.

 

 **AW:** I never realised how well everything here is drawn. It’s actually really pretty

 **MB:** I’ll be honest, I joined this game partly for the aesthetics. From the costumes to the demons and fluidity of movements... it’s all quite pleasing to the eye.

 **MB:** I definitely stayed for the number one archer here, though.

 

No one other than his sleeping siblings are in the room, but old habits die hard, and Alec looks around to make sure no one’s seeing the blush that’s forming high on his cheeks.

 

 **AW:** I’m flattered but… that can’t be true. I mean we just met like yesterday.

 **AW:** I would’ve thought you stayed for your number two position. I know I was roped into staying because of my ranking.

 **MB:** Well, with that logic, I’d still be staying because of you. You are the only person I need to beat to get that number one.

 **AW:** Good point.

 **AW:** But, like, it’s not just about the ranks, right…?

 

_What a dumb question. Why would you even ask that? Alec, you are so dumb. Up your technology, TMI, even WhatsApp allows you to delete messages nowadays. Maybe WhatsApp patented that technology. This is why patents shouldn’t exist, I swear—_

 

 **MB:** No, it is not.

 

_Okay, so maybe even lousy technology has its perks._

 

 **AW:** That’s good, I guess

 **AW:** I guess I was just kinda worried that you only saw me as an opponent or something

 **AW:** not saying there’s anything wrong with that

 **MB:** That would be the other Wayland. An arrogant guy, that one.

 **AW:** You mean Jonathan?

 **MB:** Yes.

 **AW:** He’s the golden boy of the faculty. I’m sure you’ll love him once you meet him.

 **AW:** i mean like if you meet him

 **MB:** Even so, I doubt I’d like him half as much as I’d like you.

 **AW:** Nah, that’s not a thing that happens.

 **MB:** First time for everything, right?

 

Alec has to let out a quiet laugh at that one. First time for everything, indeed.

 

 **AW:** So you know quite a bit about me, I mean you know I’m 21 and in college and live in a dorm, but I don’t know anything about you. Tell me about yourself?

 **MB:** Sure! I’m 22 going on 23, still on my third year of college though, because I took a gap year. Like you, I live in a dorm with two roommates that I love to death but still want to strangle sometimes. I take fashion and computing. What about you?

 **AW:** Are Catarina and Ranger your roommates?

 **AW:** Finance, and computer science too (!!)

 **MB:** They are:)

 **MB:** Awesome! Which do you prefer?

 **AW:** Computer science, definitely. Finance is great and all but some of the people there are a bit loopy and it’s hella boring. You?

 **MB:** Loopy finance students? I expect some stories from you soon.

 **AW:** For sure. They’ll be sooner rather than later.

 **MB:** I dunno if I can pick a favourite, to be honest. They each have their charms to them. I would never major / minor in anything I’m not heavily interested in.

 **AW:** Lucky you, then. Finance was… not my first choice for a major.

 **MB:** Parents?

 **AW:** Unfortunately.

 

Alec winces to himself, partly because of the amount of information about himself he’d just handed over to a complete stranger, and partly because just the mention of his parents makes him shudder. He wonders if it’s the false sense of security in being in bed while having this conversation or the calming aura of this man, so strong that Alec can feel it through his laptop, that’s making him so open suddenly. Maybe it’s the time. _Geez, when did it suddenly become 12:38am?_

 

 **MB:** Well, this has been a very nice walk, Alexander, but it’s terribly late for both of us and we should probably head to bed soon. Before I go, I got you a wedding ring. Will you marry me, Alexander Wayland?

 

Alec stifles a laugh, looking up to make sure he didn’t wake anyone up before he clicks on the ring MagnificentBane offered him, studying it closely.

 

 **AW:** Yes, of course I will.

 **AW:** Wow, it’s a really nice ring. Makes sense, with you being a fashion major (?) and all.

 **AW:** Actually I have a ring for you too. Cause warlocks can’t wear runes, I got a ring that has the wedded union rune on it for you.

 

Truth is, Alec hadn’t even thought of getting a ring for his ‘husband’ at all. For once, Alec smiles to himself, silently thanking Izzy for cornering him the night before and forcing him to pick out a ring before he went to bed.

 

 **MB:** It’s exquisite. Thank you.

 **AW:** No, really, thank _you_.

 **MB:** No need to thank me at all, Alexander. We _are_ married, after all. :)

 **AW:** No, I meant like??

 

Alec types, and then deletes whatever he did. Types. Backspaces again. His fingers hover over his keyboard for a few seconds, and then he huffs in frustration, unable to find the right, not-creepy words to explain himself.

He puts his head in his hands and sighs. MagnificentBane would definitely have seen him typing, and if he didn’t send anything now it would be awkward but if he sent something and it was too much information then it’d be even more awkward and—

 

 **MB:** I’m listening.

 

Alec’s thoughts screech to a halt. Again. His fingers move on their own accord, typing down words he barely registers in his mind, and maybe he doesn’t quite know why, but he lets them.

_He’s listening._

 

 **AW:** Like I never thought that marrying a man was an option, like ever in life… but seeing all of this makes me feel like…? Like it’s so easy. Like it’s so reachable. It’s weird, I know

 **MB:** No, it’s not weird at all. I know exactly what you’re talking about. In such a close-minded real world, sometimes we need a little fantasy to help us believe again.

 **AW:** Yeah. Well, then thank you for helping me believe

 **MB:** The pleasure’s all mine.

 

For a moment, Alec swears he can see the waves that threatened to drown him in anxiety suddenly recede, lapping on the shore peacefully. It’s a new feeling. Izzy is someone he can vent to, Jace can a be shoulder to lean on, but no one has ever been able to so effectively calm his mind and ease his heart with a few words the way this man can. He thinks that if getting married is necessary for this conquest, then he’s glad that it happened with MagnificentBane.

It’s close to one in the morning by the time Alec’s drifting off, the words of a stranger wrapping him around him like a blanket. For the first time in years, a small laugh escapes his lips as he falls asleep.

 

* * *

 

It’s Saturday evening, and Alec thinks that adrenaline, together with whatever caffeine is left in his system from this morning, are the only things keeping him up right now. Well, at least all of them aren’t drowning in back to back lectures and piles and piles of notes anymore.

(Correction: Alec doesn’t know about the rest, but he definitely still is. The impending doom of yet another tutorial with about three google searches worth of research done is just far away enough for him to ignore it. Spring finals are creeping up on him, and he doesn’t really know how he’s going to handle it all, so he games instead.)

 

 **RB:** yall read the quest stuff yet

 

A series of ‘yup’s fill the chat, and Alec ignores them in favour of reading through the details of the conquest. They would need to branch off into three groups and each finish a task that would supply them with the ingredients needed to make a potion. This potion would help them rescue the warlock who had the key to a treasure chest, which was what they needed to complete the conquest.

Easy enough.

 

 **RB:** so obviously bane and alexander are a pair, uhhh how are the 4 of us gonna do this

 **IW:** Catarina, wanna pair?

 **CB:** Sure babe!!

 **RB:** nO DON’T LEAVE ME WITH **_HIM_**

**JW: _HEY_**

 

“What did I ever do to them??”

Alec bites on the edge of his coffee cup, trying not to laugh, and Izzy laughs without decorum. “The funniest thing about this whole alliance thing continues to be how much Team Bane loathes you.”

“It’s not funny.”

Alec puts his cup down. “Yes it is,” he and Izzy reply at the same time.

Jace visibly deflates with a huff, but it only lasts for a second. Alec rolls his eyes fondly as Izzy and Jace kick each other under the table, reading through the task on his screen.

“I have nine hours?” Alec mumbles, checking the time from the corner of his laptop, “that’s—“

“If a game gives you a maximum of nine hours and you can’t finish it within one, you’re a loser. Fact.”

“One is a bit of a stretch. I’d say three.”

“I’m pretty sure ‘loser’ is defined as having lost the game, so by definition...“ Izzy’s and Jace’s groans don’t stop Alec from completing his sentence, “you’re a loser if you can’t finish it within nine hours.”

“Big brother, are you just saying that because you think you won’t be able to finish your task in three hours?” Izzy raises her eyebrows, Jace turns to Alec with wide, teasing eyes, and Alec really just wants to log out and go to bed.

He does the opposite.

“Is that a challenge?”

 

 **AW:** listen.. i may or may not have accidentally made a bet with isabelle and jonathan that i can finish this task in 3 hours

 **MB:** 3 hours seems reasonable.

 **MB:** If I can get out this fire without dying already.

 **AW:** that fast, eh

 **MB:** Shut it, Wayland

 

Alec snorts to himself, meeting his sibling’s teasing looks with a confident one of his own. “Challenge accepted.”

The room falls into silence for the next hour or so. Alec soon finds out that Jace’s complaining doesn’t really change the fact that MagnificentBane is an amazing gamer — he’s fighting off the demons that protect the dragon whose hair they need before Alec even really knows where he’s going. He knows he’s near, MagnificentBane said something about a cave and he thinks he might be next to one right now, but not exactly close enough to see any entrance to the cave.

 

 **MB:** fuck

 **AW:** what’s up??

 **MB:** I’ve gotten the dragon’s hair but I now I can’t get out. The exit is directly above me and I don’t have anything to climb out.

 **AW:** isn’t the point of a cave like the fact that the opening is like. on actual ground.

 **MB:** It moved.

 **AW:** magic???

 **MB:** Doesn’t work inside the cave.

 

Alec leans back in his chair with a sigh. He’d been looking for a cave entrance that never existed. “Where the hell am I going to find something to fly someone out of a cave-slash-volcano contraption?”

“Birds can do that, probably,” Izzy quips. “Huge ones. They’re kinda hard to find and are really temperamental, though. If it doesn’t want to go into the cave, you’ll never get it to go in there.”

Alec’s forehead hits the table, and Jace snickers. “Don’t worry, Alec over here knows just how temperamental these pesky animals of the shadow world can be. Don’t you, Alec?”

“How could I forget? We won’t be able to help you this time if the animal hates you and refuses to listen to anything you say.”

“Or if they constantly fly up and down and refuse to even go straight.”

“Now that I think about it, that _is_ strangely reminiscent of Alec as a person…”

“Refusing to go straight? Gosh, you’re right.”

Alec ignores them, following a bright pink flamingo-looking animal into the forest surrounding the cave. He throws out some bait, waits, and…

“HAH! Eat your words!” Alec cheers as the bird takes off, Alec riding securely on its back.

“Yeah, yeah. Twenty bucks the bird’s gonna refuse to go into the cave,” Izzy practically sings. Alec takes the signature smirk on her face as temporary motivation.

Alec holds his ‘W’ key, guiding the flying flamingo towards what really looks more like a volcano at first glance. Volcano entrances usually don’t make howling and growling sounds, though, so he’s pretty positive he’s got the right cave here.

And then his flying ostrich stops. Alec slams his finger on the key desperately, but he already knows it’s a lost cause.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Izzy and Jace burst into fits of laughter, both their tasks temporarily forgotten.

 

 **AW:** listen i have a plan

 **AW:** piss the dragon off and get it to throw you out of the cave

 **MB:** Are you out of your mind?? I’ll fall to my death!!

 **AW:** you won’t!!! i’ll catch you

 **MB:** …will you really

 **MB:** How do you even know you’re outside the right cave

 **AW:** i can literally hear a dragon roaring right now

 **AW:** just do it jesus

 **MB:** fine

 

Alec keeps his flying ostrich as close to the opening of the cave as possible, hovering near the opening of the cave. His fingers hover over the mouse and keys, ready to swoop in to catch MagnificentBane. He hears another loud growl, and then a spiky-haired character is being tossed over the edge of the cave. Alec races around the entrance, diving down, watching the falling figure until, thank the angel, he falls onto the back of the flying ostrich. Alec takes off instantly, putting as much distance as he can between the dragon and them.

 

 **MB:** Wow. I can’t believe that actually worked.

 **AW:** Told you I’d catch you.

 **MB:** And you were right.

 

Alec bites his bottom lip, sinking into his chair a little further. Jace eyes his expression, creeping up behind him to read the conversation, and he barely notices. When Jace speaks, it’s completely unexpected.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is what the cool kids call… flirting.”

Alec jumps in shock, almost falling off the chair and taking his laptop down with him. Izzy leaps up, hitting pause and grabbing the laptop right out of his fingers, having the _audacity_ to scroll through the conversation.

“My big brother? Flirting with guys? Is this a dream?”

“Children, they grow up so fast,” Jace sobs, putting one hand over his heart for an extra dramatic effect. For the third time in one night, Alec wonders what terrible life choices he’s made to end up in this situation at this moment.

“Give me back my computer! I’m not done yet!” Alec leans forward but Izzy dodges out of the way, holding his laptop close to her chest so he can’t reach it.

“Who are you and what did you do with our Alec?! You never even looked at guys and now you’re flirting with one you’ve never even met!”

Alec makes another pointed grab for his laptop and this time, he succeeds, yanking it back into his grasp. “Stop being so overdramatic! Plus, I look at guys. You just don’t notice. Trust me.”

“Ooh, scandalous.”

 

 **MB:** Alexander?

 **AW:** sorry my siblings suck

 

Alec lands the flying flamingo near The Institute and they both dash in, dropping the dragon’s hair into the potion. It fizzes and bubbles, the piece of hair disappearing into the pot, but it’s still missing two more ingredients. Alec grins to himself.

 

 **AW:** first!!!!!!!

 **MB:** We make a good team:)

 

Alec spins around in his chair, cheering quietly to himself as he flips through some of his course notes, debating studying a little while waiting for the rest of the groups to be done. After all, he is sorely behind on his economics module.

Thankfully, he doesn’t even get to start. Barely two minutes later, Izzy throws her mouse down and rolls her chair to the other side of the table, nudging his foot with her own. “So? Tell us about this MagnificentBane character. You two seem to have some… interesting chemistry going on.”

“There’s no ‘interesting chemistry’ going on,” Alec insists, making quotation marks with his hands. “We’re just trying to make the whole being married on the game thing work. We got to know each other while the rest of you were asleep.”

“Got to know each other, huh?” Izzy smirks, but decides to let Alec off the hook. Kind of. “So, what did you get to know about MagnificentBane?”

Alec shrugs. “The basics, I guess. He’s a year older than us, but he’s still in his third year of college because he took a gap year. He, Catarina and Ranger stay in a dorm together. He takes fashion and computer science, and—“ he cuts himself off, eyeing Izzy curiously. She’s got one of _those_ looks on her face. She furrows her eyebrows and cocks her head slightly — a clear sign to Alec that she analysing what information he’s just given her. _For what, though?_

“Jace, are you done?”

“In a sec… we’re just putting the tooth into the pot now.”

“Come over here when you’re done. Alec, pass me your laptop.”

Alec wants to protest, but he knows better than to interfere when Izzy goes into one of her ‘analysing’ modes. It comes with the forensic science major, he assumes. Reluctantly, he hands the laptop over, the private chat with MagnificentBane still open. Izzy scrolls through it, narrowing her eyes at every sentence. Alec’s fingers itch with a misplaced feeling of protectiveness. If Izzy starts psychoanalysing him now, he isn’t going to make it for another two more weeks with them.

_Why do you even care if he doesn’t make it two weeks with you? The conquest is three days long._

“Okay, I’m done. What’s up?” Jace rolls his chair over, and the three of them crowd around Alec’s laptop. Izzy zooms in on the part of the conversation where MagnificentBane introduced himself to Alec and Jace reads through it, but it’s clear that they’re still a few steps behind. Alec and Jace give Izzy matching quizzical looks, waiting for her to elaborate.

“Magnificent Bane.” Izzy holds out one hand to her side. “Magnus Bane.” The other hand to the other side. _Magnus Bane?_ Alec frowns at the introduction of a new name — definitely not one he’s unfamiliar with, but what has he got to do with The Mortal Instruments…?

“Magnificent Bane. Magnus Bane. Twenty-two years old. In his third year of college, stays in a dorm. Fashion major. Computer science minor.” She waits for her brothers to put the pieces together, a ‘you guys are so dense’ expression on her face.

Alec’s mind races, and his heart almost skips a beat. Almost.

“Wait a minute, you don’t— you don’t think maybe—“

“Oh, I think.” Izzy leans back slowly, glancing at the conversation again. When she looks back at Alec, her smile is almost devilish. “I _definitely_ think.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a blind date is arranged... kind of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took wayyyy too long — sorry guys!! Can you believe I take 2 months to churn out 3k words smH

It’s the first day of the week and Magnus thinks he might have already broken a record. He’s already overslept and missed half a lecture (boy was it awkward to walk in an hour late), scalded himself with his own coffee, found himself spending more than two hours trying not to murder his project team, smudged his eyeliner (or at least, he’s pretty sure), and now, at 3:30pm, he’s got another three-hour long lecture to go for before he can finally go back to his dorm and drop dead. In other words, he’s positively dying right now.

He glances at his phone for the time: 3:28. _Huh, at least something’s gone right today._

“I can’t do this anymore,” he mutters, slumping onto one of the seats in the lecture theatre, “I’ve angered some divine spirit and now they’re out to get me. What did I even do to them, anyway?” He lays his head on his pencil case and tugs at the little figurine attached to it. “What do you think, Margret? Think I’ll be run over a car before the day ends?”

There’s a tiny snort that comes from the person sitting next to him and he tilts his head to see who had cheek to laugh at his expense, _the nerve_ —

_Oh fuck._

Somehow, by yet another ridiculous stroke of bad luck, he’s chosen to plonk himself right next to _The Alexander Lightwood_ on what might be the worst day of his life. The Alexander Lightwood, as in, the beautiful boy who once yelled ‘I’M GAY’ in their second year so loudly that the whole lecture theatre heard him — apparently one too many girls were taking a certain kind of liking to him and asking him out. Magnus remember sniggering in his seat as he watched the dejected girl leave the lecture before it even started. Ever since, there’s been a certain kind of fondness that Magnus has been taking towards the unofficial eye candy of the school (why the official one is his brother is, quite honestly, beyond him).

Any other day and this would be a blessing, but definitely not while he probably has eyeliner running down the side of his cheek or something.

“Uh... hello…?” _did you really just greet the boy with a question?_ “I’m Magnus.”

“I know.” Magnus raises an eyebrow at The Alexander Lightwood’s response. Alexander Lightwood then suddenly seems to realise what came out of his mouth, and he starts back-tracking frantically. “Wait, I mean— what I meant to say is, uh, hi. I’m Alec.”

A teasing smile finds its way onto Magnus’s lips. “I know. You’ve made quite the name for yourself in the computer science department.” Alexander Lightwood takes a deep breath and flushes instantly, and Magnus doesn’t know whether he feels bad or utterly gleeful that two words from him has Alexander Lightwood blushing to the tips of his ears.

“Uh… really? I don’t— I don’t do much around here.”

“Well,” Magnus turns to fully face Alexander Lightwood, resting his chin in his hand, glad that at least some of his composure has returned, “then clearly you don’t need to.”

The exchange between school-weirdo and and school-sorta-eye-candy attracts a small crowd of nosy people, but when both are used to being stared at from time to time, it hardly matters. Alexander Lightwood turns back to his laptop, and Magnus watches with mild interest. When he places his hands on the keyboard to type, Magnus notices something.

“Hey, you play The Mortal Instruments too?”

Alexander’s fingers pretty much have a small spasm on the keyboard. He looks up abruptly, and, in a frenzy, shuts his laptop all together. He’s looking at him like there’s something that he might know that he shouldn’t, and Magnus lets out a confused laugh. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I play that game too.”

“Yeah, I, uh… I know…? I mean, you said. Yeah.” Alexander scrambles to open his laptop again, clicking away the tab that had the game open, and he, very decidedly, opens Microsoft Word this time. The application loads, and Alexander thinks.

“Magnus?”

“Hm?”

“What’s your username? On TMI, I mean.”

Something in Alexander’s tone makes Magnus stop and consider. Is he embarrassed about playing TMI just now because he’s only a beginner at it? Will he freak out even more if he knew that he’s the number two player on the global leaderboard?

Or is there something else going on?

Magnus chooses the coy route — just to be safe. “You’ll know it when you see it.”

“Right.” Alexander nods. He’s half a second from opening his mouth again, it seems, when the professor walks in. All at once, Magnus watches him lose his nerve completely, curling back into his seat and looking ahead for the rest of the lesson.

_What was all of that about?_

Magnus can’t focus on the lesson today, which isn’t at all surprising, given the terrible day he’s just had. What’s surprising is what’s occupying his mind right now. He can’t help but think there’s something more to Alexander’s reaction than he might have first thought. But what is it that had him so panicky about him finding out that he plays TMI?

_Maybe he knows I’m MagnificentBane, and is freaking out because of my ranking on the leaderboard? Did I accidentally fight him and banish him off to some deep hell that he had to crawl out of once in the game, and now he’s scared? Or maybe he hates me because of it?_

A wave of misplaced guilt twists in his gut. He finds himself really hoping that isn’t the case. It isn’t lost on him that it’s rare for him to regret beating someone, especially in gaming.

Magnus picks up his pencil and begins to doodle. Before he knows it, he’s drawing a cartoon character with black hair, wide eyes, and angled features. The leather jacket follows quickly after, the character’s shirt and trousers as dark as the pencil will allow, and then, Magnus draws on a pair of combat boots to complete the outfit. Finally, he places a bow in the character’s hand and slings a quiver, loaded with arrows, over his shoulder.

Alexander Wayland.

Is it possible that it isn’t just an alias?

Alexander Lightwood.

Alexander Wayland.

Isabelle Lightwood.

Jonathan Lightwood.

_Hmm._

 

* * *

 

 

Magnus doesn’t get to ask — Alec bolts from the lecture theatre the moment the lesson ends.

It seems like he has more pressing worries though. More specifically, his two roommates, who are currently giving him suspicious-looking, shit-eating grins.

“Right. Exactly what did the two of you do this time?”

“Hey, what’s up with that accusing tone?” Ragnor bristles, but Magnus sees a flash of guilt pass across his features, the sorry-not-sorry kind, and he sighs, hoping he doesn’t have to commit murder to try and salvage what’s already the worst day of his life. “We did you a favour!”

“A very big favour.” Cat and Ragnor nod together, creepily in tandem. Magnus just squints.

“We set you up on a blind date!”

“A what?!” Magnus exclaims, slamming down on their shared table in his panic. Cat and Ragnor barely flinch, already accustomed to his mildly violent ways of panicking. And really, a blind date isn’t be something to panic about, but only if Cat and Ragnor aren't the ones planning said blind date, and they don't have that mischievous, slightly dangerous look in their eyes. “With whom?”

Cat shrugs, sliding a post-it towards him. He takes the yellow piece of paper and scans it. She’s given him a location and time (tomorrow?!), but not a name or a contact number. He raises his eyebrow at the two of them.

“Am I going to telepathically be able to decipher who I should be looking for at the entrance tomorrow?”

“Trust us, you’ll know him when you see him,” Cat says at the exact same time as Ragnor goes, “Oh, c’mon, you’re telling me you can’t recognise your virtual husband, even after we set him up with you?”

Cat glares at Ragnor, and he shrugs. Clearly, he was just looking for an opening to drop in this very, very important piece of information.

“Wait, my virtual husband?? You guys found AlexanderWayland?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say we found Alexander. More like, he found us.”

“Not quite that, even. His siblings found us. Said they figured it out a few nights ago and corne— I mean,” Cat kicks Ragnor’s shin, hard, underneath the table and he snaps his mouth shut, “ _contacted_ us just this morning. I must say, if the boy looks anything like his sister, you got yourself a pretty good catch.”

Magnus shakes him head, kicking Ragnor’s other shin for good measure. Ragnor attempts to drag him into a rather violent game of footsies. He rolls his chair back and puts his feet up on the table instead. Cat cringes, disgusted. Magnus sits back, reading the note over and over again.

 

_MagnificentBane,  
_ _AlexanderWayland’s siblings over here. We dug through both of your schedules and it looks like the both of you are free tomorrow from 10:30 to 2, so we took it upon ourselves to arrange a meet up for you guys (we agreed that the two of you will never do it yourselves, so). Meet him at the entrance of the school at 11am, k??_

_P.S. YOU BETTER NOT STAND HIM UP I SWEAR I WILL MURDER YOU I KNOW WHO YOU ARE  
P.P.S. THAT WAS JONATHAN NOT ME_

 

He’s supposed to meet Alexander at the school entrance tomorrow at 11am. Does that mean that Alexander studies here? Would that, in turn, really mean that the two Alexanders that have caught his attention over the last few months are, in fact, one Alexander?

“Oh, and,” Magnus looks up at Ragnor, who’s waiting to catch his attention so he can finish his statement, “this Alexander boy that you’re crushing on—“

“I do not have a crush on the guy! I don’t know him!”

“—is very much single, and, if I’ve made my deductions right and his siblings weren’t feeding me bullshit… he’s probably at least a little into you. You’ve been nursing that stupid, creepy virtual crush on him for months — if you needed a sign to go for it, this is it.”

Magnus pauses and calculates. “This Alexander character we’re talking about… does he happen to study here as well? Are these two siblings, by any chance, Jonathan and Isabelle Lightwood…?” Magnus pauses, and the look on his roommates’ faces means he’s figured it out. Cat looks terribly disappointed, and it becomes pretty clear why when she digs through her wallet, handing a smug Ragnor a five dollar note.

“You set me up on a blind date with _Alexander Lightwood_??” Magnus slams down on the table again, his voice going up an octave or eight. “I’m not prepared for this! You— you can’t—“

“Told you he’d figure it out. The boy might be lovesick, but we don’t call him a discount Sherlock Holmes for nothing.”

“I’m not lovesick! Wait, no—“

“Magnus, my dear Magnus,” Cat interrupts, a hand on Magnus’s shoulder, “if you weren’t lovesick, then why would you be so flustered over having to meet him? You never care about what others think anyway. Unless…” she trails off, giving him a knowing smile.

The fight in Magnus evaporates. He doesn’t know why he even bothered in the first place. He waves off his friends and shrugs guiltily. There’s something kind of pathetic about admitting that you maybe sort of have a crush on someone you met on a virtual platform that you’ve somehow managed to talk to less than five times in three years but pine on from afar, nonetheless.

So, okay, maybe there’s some sort of infatuation crisis over Alexander Whatever that Magnus has been shoving under the rug here. It’s not like it means anything. Everyone in school has a crush on Alexander Lightwood, boy, girl, and everyone in between. Everyone also knows that Alexander doesn’t date, or fuck, or engage in any personal relationships beyond acquaintances. It’s part of the charm. And Magnus, well…

He’s been charmed alright.

Magnus stares at the ceiling, silently accepting his fate. Tomorrow, he’s going to meet the guy that he has the equivalent of two celebrity crushes over — one in real life, one on The Mortal Instruments. Alec’s actions an hour ago make sense now, but they don’t really make sense in a ‘I-have-a-crush-on-him’ way. No, Alexander Lightwood doesn’t have crushes. But he might know of Magnus’s. If they’re even able to pass the awkward phase into becoming friends tomorrow, Magnus will take it as a big, big win.

“Well, then, I guess I better go look for something to wear tomorrow.” Behind him, Cat cheers, almost jumping onto Ragnor’s shoulders in glee while Ragnor tries to push her off without allowing her to fall face-first. Magnus pays barely any attention to their antics, distracted and a little dazed.

Alexander Lightwood is Alexander Wayland. _Wow._

 

* * *

 

 **AW:** hey so how are you?

 **AW:** you good?

 

Magnus frowns.

 

 **MB:** I’m fine, Alexander. Why do you suddenly ask?

 **AW:** uh

 **AW:** no reason…?

 **AW:** just take it as my attempt to be a good husband ???

 **AW:** hold on that sounded better in my head

 

Magnus smiles fondly to himself. He’s been doing a lot of that lately, and a part of him suspects it’s because he and Alexander talk almost daily now, and somehow, the boy’s managed to permanently plaster a goofy smile on his face for at least half of every day.

 

 **MB:** Well, if you’re so interested to know… I had a terrible day.

 **AW:** oh no! tell me what happened? can i do anything to help?

 **MB:** Not really. Unless you can bring camomile tea to my dorm…

_AlexanderWayland is typing…_

 

Magnus tries not to look too smug when the notification that Alexander is typing pops up and disappears every few seconds, as if the poor boy doesn’t know what to say in response. Whoops?

 

 **AW:** i can do that for you tomorrow, if you want

 

The smirk on his face instantly fades, turning into something shyer; a little coy. They’re meeting. Tomorrow. Right.

 

 **MB:** I’ll save you the trouble this time. The café and entrance are so far away from each other you might as well be trekking across Russia.

 **AW:** it can’t be that far

 **MB:** Trust me, it is.

 **AW:** well, if you need to talk about it to anyone, I’ll be here

 **MB:** Darling, I truly appreciate it, but don’t worry about me. I’m fine, I promise.

 **AW:** still

 **AW:** i have time

 

And so Magnus types non-stop for a few minutes, ranting about being late for class, giving him every single detail of the seven (7) arguments he had with his teammates, and then going as far as to talk about accidentally plonking himself beside the boy he had a dumb crush on while he was probably crying eyeliner. Magnus feels like he hasn’t talked about his day in such detail in a long, long, time, but he trusts that Alec does, indeed, have time.

 

 **MB:** Like, what a way to make an impression, right? How will I ever get him to unsee the sight of me at my rock bottom???

 **AW:** i’m sure you didn’t look that bad. plus, if he judges you for how you look when you had a bad day, he’s probably not good boyfriend material anyway so

 **AW:** don’t worry about it

 **MB:** Speaking of boyfriend material, I’ve been terrible husband material. Tell me, how was your day?

 **AW:** fine:)

 

Magnus glares at his laptop as if Alexander could see the deadpan expression on his face. He wonders if Alexander can actually see it, kind of, when he begins typing again. He hums to himself as he reads text bubble after text bubble appear, Alexander telling him about how he stayed up late last night waiting for his half-drunk siblings to come home (they did at 3:54am; Alec was out by 3:55) from partying because he was worried, then sleeping till noon (because he could, unlike Magnus (“shut up, Alexander”), and only had a 3:30 lecture today). He tells Magnus how he made a fool of himself in front of “possibly the most impressive human being to ever walk the earth” and it isn’t a _crush_ , goddamnit, he’s not eighteen, but he spends a text bubble and a half rambling about how this man is nothing short of inspiring, and then chalks it up to some “lingering repressed gayness, or at least that’s what my sister calls it”. When he really get into it, Magnus thinks, the boy’s pretty funny. It just took a moment for Alexander to say much more than just ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘good idea’ and ‘no way in hell’.

 

 **MB:** Sounds like a crush to me…

 **AW:** sHUT UP ITS NOT

 **AW:** OK MAYBE IT IS

 **AW:** A BIT

 **MB:** Awww… no need to be so embarrassed, Alexander. We all have had a crush on someone before.

 **AW:** …not me.

 **MB:** wait w h a t

 **MB:** Never ever before??

 **AW:** yeah, it's weird i know. even the school calls me the resident prude sometimes

 **MB:** That’s not nice.

 **AW:** meh, i’ve heard worse.

 

Magnus winces to himself at that. He doesn’t want think about what worse Alexander’s heard from others. His eyes flicker from his screen to the white walls surrounding him, taking a break, when his gaze lands on a couple of shirts he’s got hanging from a half-open closet. He hands hover over the keyboard, thumb and index finger absentmindedly rubbing together, and he decides to switch the subject abruptly. One day, he’ll have Alexander tell him all of these horrid stories and he’ll listen carefully, maybe with a hand carding through Alexander’s hair to comfort him, but even for Magnus, right now is a little premature.

 

 **MB:** Black or green?

 **AW:** ??

 **MB:** Do you prefer black or green? I’m looking for something to wear for tomorrow.

 **AW:** oh

 **AW:** green. makes your eyes pop a bit

 

Magnus raises his eyebrows, and he sits up sharply. _Did this boy just…?_ His hands fly onto the keyboard on their own accord to type out a reply, but the green dot next to Alexander’s username has already disappeared. He titters to himself, holding back any response he has in mind and leans back. He doesn’t even bother hiding the look of pure glee on his face.

 

_Gotcha._

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on [Tumblr](http://oceannblueyes.tumblr.com) and let me know your thoughts!!


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